Alcoholism is occasionally referred to as “Jellinek’s Disease” in honor of E. M. Jellinek, whose works, including the book The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, published in 1960, has left a remarkable impact on both scholarly and popular audiences. Scholars know him as one of the first editors of the pioneering Quarterly Journal of Studies on … Read More
If you have no idea about Hollywood Squares, you are not alone. The catchy title refers to a popular game show that ran on NBC from the mid 60s to the early 80s mimicking the standard tic-tac-toe game. However, the three-tiered “board” seated nine celebrities, who gave hilarious and witty answers to the game show … Read More
Is it scholarly? Librarians often receive this question from students trying to orient themselves while navigating the maze of articles from scholarly and popular publications they need to cite when their paper is due. It’s a valid question, since it’s sometimes difficult for the novice to decide from a text alone, especially in an unfamiliar … Read More
There’s nothing more inspirational than the first few tangible results of a project. In this case, they are visible rather than tangible, it’s a digital archive after all. It reminds me that, in physical archives, I’d like to think users minimize touching precious items as much as I have so far with this collection: once … Read More
Mark Keller had probably done every possible job both at the Yale and Rutgers Centers, small and big. Going through the Mark Keller Papers again feels like a blast from the past, as they are now safely stored in the Libraries Annex. In one of the boxes I was pleased to find something that used … Read More
The cliché about eating an elephant one bite at a time is probably older than large digital projects, nevertheless, it applies to them too. For the Digital Alcohol Archives, I’d rather pick the simple but effective quote in the title, One Day at a Time, part of twelve-steps programs and inspirational texts. By now, six … Read More
The first month of the project flew by incredibly fast – while moving forward with baby steps. Exactly how it should happen in the initial phase, when planning and experimenting should still be more important than ramping up production. I successfully reacquainted myself with the various formats of the Alcohol Archives: print resources in my … Read More
Each item I look at brings up memories from the past 15 years, the Alcohol Library, and conferences where we presented the treasures of the Alcohol Archive Collection. I’ll try to decide on one favorite item each month, allowing the image or document to guide my pen (or, better to say, keyboard), to tell its … Read More
After two weeks of reading previous project documentation and unofficial notes, the initial period of reviewing what we have done is officially over. Were there any surprises other than the moments of satisfaction that we had done everything we could in the past? I wouldn’t say it was a surprise but the breadth and depth … Read More
The year 2023 means a new chapter in the revival of our Digital Alcohol Archives project. As project leader, I started my sabbatical leave in January to focus on the preservation and digitization of the defunct Alcohol Archives Collection for six months, strongly supported by both New Brunswick Libraries and the Center of Alcohol and … Read More